Impressum
The Latin word Impressum (printed, from the verb imprimĕre, i.e. to print), used in German, has no exact translation in modern English. It is a legally required statement of the ownership and authorship of a document, which must be included in books, newspapers, magazines[1] and websites[2] published in Germany and other German-speaking countries.
There is no equivalent legislation in the UK or US, and therefore no consistent legal term is used in English-speaking media. The closest English terms for Impressum are:
- Masthead: for newspapers and magazines, a list, usually found on the editorial page, of the members of its board.[3]
- Colophon: for books, a note indicating metadata about the book such as the date of publication, printer and publisher.
- "Site notice", "Legal notice"or "Legal disclosure": for websites in English, a page title commonly used to link to legal metadata and terms of use.
[edit] Webpages
The Telemediengesetz requires that German websites must have an Impressum disclosing information about the publisher, including their name and address, telephone number or e-mail address, trade registry number, VAT number, and other information depending on the type of company.[4][5] German websites are defined as being published by individuals or organisations that are based in Germany, so an Impressum is required regardless of whether a site is in the .de domain.
This law has created privacy concerns for individuals who maintain blogs or personal homepages.[6][7][8] The law has also caused lawyers to scrutinise websites for this page.[9][10]
[edit] Mistranslation
The terms masthead and colophon apply to printed publications only and are not commonly used on English-language websites. 'Impressum' is sometimes translated as imprint, a word used in modern English for a brand name under which a work is published.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Presserecht
- ^ Telemediengesetz
- ^ Duden: "(Buchw.): Vermerk über Verleger, Drucker, auch Redaktionen u.a. in Büchern, Zeitungen u. Zeitschriften"
- ^ "[1] Diese Angaben müssen in das Impressum"
- ^ [2] TMG § 5 Allgemeine Informationspflichten
- ^ http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum10/3178.htm
- ^ http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=145280
- ^ http://osdir.com/ml/gnu.savannah.user/2007-03/msg00007.html
- ^ http://www.recht.us/amlaw/2006/11/04#1104impressum
- ^ http://transblawg.eu/index.php?/archives/594-U.S.-comment-on-ImpressumGerman-lawyers-cease-and-desist-hunt.html
- ^ [3] "In the publishing world, the term imprint usually means the name under which a publisher issues books. For example, you may come across a statement such as "Copernicus Books is an imprint of Springer-Verlag."
